The Family Pantry: Behind The Numbers

A person who comes to the Family Pantry of Cape Cod for help can be a lot of things: a parent, an employee, a trusted friend going through a rough patch. But they’re never, ever just a number.

 On a recent Saturday morning, Pantry Executive Director Paul Lonergan praised volunteers for always serving clients with the dignity and respect that they deserve, particularly since they have already made the courageous decision to ask for help. Each client’s story is unique, he said, and the fact that they’re treated like individuals is one of the things that makes the Family Pantry special.

 While clients are never a number, there are plenty of figures that illustrate how the Family Pantry helps, and how even small donations can make a difference. 

Last year, the organization served more than 6,000 families, distributing over 171,000 bags of groceries. It’s a lot of hungry people coming through the door, Lonergan said. The organization recently had a celebration for Christine Menard, who just retired, having joined the pantry as executive director in 2016. 

 “When she came in, it was 200 families a week” who came for groceries, he said. “Now it’s 800 families a week.” That huge growth in demand comes even as new food pantries are opening up in other Cape locations. Even working together, the Family Pantry and town-based pantries are struggling to meet the need, he said. In 2024, there were 37,380 client visits, a number that was up 13 percent from 2013.

 “It’s these hard-working folks that need a little bit of assistance. Sometimes they disappear because something fortunate happens in their life and they get on track,” Lonergan said. But regardless of how long a client needs help, the Pantry is there. “That’s what it’s all about. That was the mission when the Pantry started, and that’s the mission today. We don’t get too complicated: it’s to feed and clothe.”

It boils down to this: Last year, the Family Pantry helped 507 Brewster residents, 421 Chatham folks, 1,117 people from Harwich and 278 from Orleans. That’s among the 13,642 individuals served between Provincetown and the bridges and beyond. 

Here are a few other numerical tidbits: the Pantry distributes 1,200 turkeys and holiday dinner packages around Thanksgiving. Last year, 400 children received a bag of new toys around the holidays. The mobile pantry, which works with local senior centers and other groups, served 520 households, and hundreds more were helped by other outreach programs, like the satellite pantry at Cape Cod Community College and free grab-and-go food distribution sites held annually in Hyannis and Orleans.

Who’s doing all this work? That would be the corps of 650 Family Pantry volunteers, who contributed $3.2 million worth of labor last year alone. 

Much of the Pantry’s revenue comes from donations of clothing, furniture and housewares, the pick of which are sold at Second Glance. The thrift store dedicates 100 percent of its sales proceeds to support the Pantry’s food program. Volunteers sort an endless stream of donations; outside of the items earmarked for Second Glance, the Pantry distributed 50 tons of gently used clothing to its clients last year. The 23 tons of clothing that could not be distributed or sold? It was all recycled, yielding another modest revenue stream for the organization.

One number Pantry supporters are watching closely now is the weekly donation tally for Helping Neighbors, which is lagging behind past summers’ campaigns. With about a month remaining in the campaign, more than $80,000 in contributions are needed to reach the $110,000 goal. Donations of every size are needed, Lonergan said.

 “Ten dollars is 40 meals,” he said. “Ten dollars goes a long way. We have the ability to [procure] USDA foods through the Greater Boston Food Bank and the co-ops that we have,” he said. And because of matching grants in place that will cover the entire $110,000 campaign goal, every donated dollar buys eight meals instead of four. 

 “Imagine that,” Lonergan said. “Every dollar is full of meals.”

To contribute to The Chronicle's Summertime Helping Neighbors campaign, click here. You can also mail a tax-deductible contribution to The Family Pantry, 133 Queen Anne Rd., Harwich, MA 02645, or call 508-432-6519.